Twins split a unique ‘doubleheader’ with Guardians on a rainy day at Target Field

Cole Sands was only a teammate of Carlos Santana for one summer. But it all came rushing back when Sands let go of a fastball, up and away, to the Guardians’ first baseman on Wednesday.

“I probably should have gone off-speed again, but I didn’t, and of course it’s over the fence,” the Twins’ reliever said. “I feel like I’ve seen that home run a thousand times. Pretty amazing.”

In his first trip back to Target Field, Santana homered off Joe Ryan in Wednesday’s first game, and off Sands in the second, but only the latter one helped the Guardians beat the Twins.

Kody Clemens upstaged the ex-Twin with a walk-off single to win the six-inning resumption of Monday’s rain-delayed game, 6-5, and Santana supported some shutdown Cleveland pitching in the regularly scheduled game, 5-1.

The victory in the back-and-forth first game extended the Twins’ home winning streak to 10 consecutive games, longest such stretch in Target Field’s 16-year history. But when the Twins managed only three hits in the second game, they suffered their first defeat here in nearly a month, since an April 24 loss to the White Sox.

BOXSCORE: Game 2, Cleveland 5, Twins 1

BOXSCORE: Game 1, Twins 6, Cleveland 5

MLB standings

“The day as a whole, there were some very positive things that we did,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We had to grind it out, basically the whole day. … We pitched solidly. We defended pretty well. We had a lot of good at-bats.”

None better than Clemens, who this time didn’t hit a heroic home run, as he has a couple times already in his month as a Twin. Turns out, line drives to center field work just as well.

In a game that began in the fourth inning, following the three played on Monday, Clemens quickly restored the Twins’ lead with a liner that outfielder Nolan Jones turned into an RBI triple. Then in the ninth, Clemens lined one past Angel Martínez, driving in the winner to the Twins’ 14th win in 15 games.

“It’s been awesome,” Clemens said of his month-long proving ground with the Twins. “The stress and worriness is gone. I got some consistent playing time and finally got on time with my swing. It’s just been a blessing.”

Clemens’ big hits were a blessing to Joe Ryan and especially Jhoan Duran. Clemens’ fourth-inning triple, on a sinking line drive that Jones made an ill-advised attempt to catch by diving (he missed by at least 4 feet), scored Trevor Larnach with a run that restored the one-run lead that the Twins carried over from Monday. Then he scored on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly.

Ryan — who technically was making the first relief appearance of his career — didn’t allow a run after Santana’s early blast until the ninth, when José Ramírez led off with a double and Kyle Manzardo walked. Duran relieved him, and experienced uncharacteristic turbulence. A hit by Jones, a wild pitch and a two-out, two-run double by Bo Naylor off the right-field wall tied the game and handed Duran his first blown save of the year.

But Ty France was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the inning and moved up on Jonah Bride’s two-out hit. Pinch-runner Ryan Fitzgerald then scored the winner when Clemens drove one over Martínez’s glove in center field.

“He has great energy,” Ryan said of Clemens. “He hits the ball so hard, has great at-bats. It was fun to see him doing his thing again.”

There wasn’t nearly as much energy for the Twins in the finale of what was supposed to be a three-game series. The Twins managed only three hits, just two in six innings against Cleveland starter Gavin Williams, who had allowed seven in just two innings when the teams met in Cleveland last month.

Ryan Jeffers singled home Willi Castro in the third inning, but the Twins could not muster another run. Chris Paddack almost didn’t need any, but a single and back-to-back walks in the sixth inning turned the game around.

Paddack was removed in favor of Louie Varland, who immediately walked Gabriel Arias to force in the tying run. Nolan Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center field, and the Guardians had all the runs they needed.

They did add one more, courtesy of Santana, who now ranks 14th in Target Field history with 29 career home runs.